09/15/2009

The purpose of these videos that we recently (and quickly!!) made is to demonstrate how easy it is to make soup at home that is filling, low in calories, will give you a PILE of energy and helps you get massive amounts of nutrients. The key for me was the Cuisinart Smart Stick that I found in my drawer. I had been reading about blended vegetable soup for energy, and I was trying to figure out how to do it. Habib often cooks stuff and then has to pour it into countertop Cuisinart. Back and forth process, which is messy and a pain. I am so glad I found this thing. I had won it at some holiday party late last year, and it was just sitting in a drawer. It made the soup making process very easy.

The point I want to hammer on here is that if you are looking for more energy (and I know a TON of you are)- please try this approach. There is another video referenced, which you can watch lower down on this page where you see what I put into it. In this case it was broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, garlic, onion and chicken broth. I threw that stuff in, cooked it for 15 minutes, and then used the stick to blend it up. You can use whatever veggies or ingredients you want, and flavor it any way you want. The breakthrough for me was that I found an easy and tasty way to get my greens in. Habib and I do this almost every day now. He wants to fuel up for his long runs (10-18 miles) and I use it to power through my days.

Part 1, Preparing The Stuff You Need To Make The Soup (Editors Note, the cost was closer to $6 for the ingredients)

Part 2, How To Use The Smart Stick (Makes this very easy)

Part 3, Short Video Showing A Quick Adjustment I Made To The Taste Of The Soup:

We put this together for the new PEERtrainer Pursuit of Excellence Program. In the beginning of this program we focus on practical ways to get more energy. This has been a big request and a very popular focus.

Kitchen Aid also makes one that is more expensive than either of these, and from the reviews is more powerful if you are planning on blending more than veggies on a regular basis. Hope this helps you, and please share your own recipes and tips with us!

09/03/2009

As many of you know I have been training for a marathon. I run several times a week with a group of guys who have run marathons before. As far as "PEERtrainers" go, these guys are the best. They schedule runs, motivate me to run on days that I don't want to. Many of them are doctors as well, so I have to endure lots of complaining about some of the inside baseball of being a doctor.

Usually I focus on my own breathing and let them talk and talk so I can have a better chance of keeping up with them. Yesterday though I heard a very interesting story which I felt compelled to write about. One of the guys is a cardiologist, and he was particularly upset about something that happened in the last couple days.

There was a woman in the hospital, somewhere in the system that was 7 months pregnant and having heart palpitations. I was told by my friend that a whole series of doctors would not see her, I think 4 or 5. My friends assistant called him and asked if he would. He agreed to, and explained that the other doctors did not want to touch the case with a ten foot pole out of fear of being sued.

He gets into the room to see her and she just starts crying and crying. She is glad to see my friend. But can you imagine what is going through this woman's head? You are way pregnant, your heart starts acting funny, you are probably freaking out. And a series of doctors refuse to see you?

Bad stuff can and does happen to women during pregnancy. Anyway, there is this huge healthcare debate about things that might or might not happen in the future depending on what happens. And in this debate, the words "tort reform" have come up. It is something that Republicans always talk about, and that some Democrats are starting to talk about. As I understand it, "tort reform" means reworking the issue of suing doctors when something goes wrong.

It is one of those buzzwords that we hear get tossed around, and it sounds like an abstraction. Which is why I wanted to blog about this story. I am not a lawyer or a doctor, but it seems that when doctors refuse to see patients out of fear of being sued, something needs to be worked on. And I have NO IDEA how one would structure "tort reform." Obviously if someone screws up, there needs to be recourse.

Anyway, I thought this might be interesting contribution to the healthcare debate. Hopefully not too controversial. This is one of those things that everyone can relate to and understand.